SINGAPORE - There were 18 new coronavirus cases reported on Thursday (May 6), bringing Singapore's total to 61,286.
Of these, two were in the community, both of which are not linked to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital cluster. There were none from the workers' dormitories.
The remaining 16 were imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
On Wednesday, there was one community case reported - a 59-year-old truck driver - whose infection prompted the opening of a new cluster centred on the Pasir Panjang Terminal.
The patient has been linked to three earlier reported cases.
He is employed by GKE Express Logistics, and was last at work on May 1.
He developed a fever and sore throat on Sunday, and remained at home. The next day, he sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic and was tested for Covid-19.
His result came back positive on Tuesday, and he was taken in an ambulance to Alexandra Hospital. His serology test result is pending, said MOH.
The earliest discovered patient in the cluster was a 23-year-old Indian national who works as a lashing specialist at the Pasir Panjang Terminal.
His Covid-19 infection was confirmed on April 10.
As a precautionary measure, MOH will carry out special testing operations to test port workers who have been deployed at the terminal.
This comes as community infections surge in Singapore, with cases increasing to 62 in the past week from 13 in the week before. Singapore now has 10 active Covid-19 clusters.
The number of unlinked cases has also risen to seven cases from six over the same period.
There were also 15 imported cases who were placed on stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore, said MOH.
In all, 16 coronavirus cases were reported on Wednesday, taking Singapore's total to 61,268.
With 21 cases discharged on Wednesday, 60,829 patients have fully recovered from the disease.
A total of 131 patients remain in hospital, including two in critical condition in the intensive care. They are not linked to the TTSH cluster.
Another 262 patients are recuperating in community facilities.
Singapore has had 31 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.